Amaranthus blitum subsp. blitum var. oleraceus

Hassan, Walaa A., Al-Shaye, Najla A., Alghamdi, Salma, Korany, Shereen M. & Iamonico, Duilio, 2022, Taxonomic revision of the genus Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae) in Saudi Arabia, Phytotaxa 576 (2), pp. 135-157 : 140

2b. Amaranthus blitum subsp. blitum var. oleraceus (L.) Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India [J.D. Hooker] 4: 721. 1885 ≡ Amaranthus oleraceus L., Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 2: 1403. 1763 ≡ Amaranthus lividus proles oleraceus (L.) Thell. in Asch. & Graebn., Syn. Mitteleur. Fl. [Ascherson & Graebner] 5(1(5)): 321. 1914 ≡ Amaranthus blitum subsp. oleraceus (L.) Costea in Costea & al., Sida 19(4): 984. 2001

Type (lectotype designated by Filias et al. 1980: 150):—ASIA. Habitat in India, Herb. Linn., No. 1117.13 (LINN!, image of the lectotype available at http://linnean-online.org/11639/) .

Iconography:— Bayón (2015: 307, Figura 22).

Chromosome number:— Unknown.

Alien status:— The origin of this taxon is uncertain at present. It probably originated from a selection of the var. blitum which was used as cultivated vegetable (see e.g., Costea et al. 2001). However, it does not appear to have been used for this purpose in Saudi Arabia. We consider var. oleraceus as casual in Saudi Arabia.

Occurrence in Saudi Arabia:— Var. oleraceus is here considered since it was listed by Thomas (2011). In fact, we did not found this variety during the field survey. Further investigations need to verify its real occurrence in Saudi Arabia.